Injured in a Bicycle Accident?
Bicycle accidents often result in severe physical injuries followed by expensive economic losses, and many victims of these incidents face long-term effects that are very difficult to handle. An experienced Santa Fe bicycle accident lawyer is the ideal asset to have on your side in the aftermath of such an accident.
If you or a family member was injured in a bicycle accident, seek legal representation from a skilled attorney as soon as possible. Contact Youngers Law and schedule a free consultation:505-820-0108. Ms. Youngers has extensive experience with bicycle accident cases. She can seek full and fair compensation for you.
Damages in a Bicycle Accident Case
While bicycle accidents are less common than other types of vehicle accidents in the state, they tend to result in significant damages. Whenever a motor vehicle driver hits a bicyclist, the victim is likely to suffer life-changing injuries. Bicycle accidents often result in very serious trauma, including:
- Head injuries
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
- Back and neck injuries
- Paralysis (paraplegia/quadriplegia)
- Broken bones and fractures
- Severed limbs and surgical amputations
- Severe road rash burns and abrasions
These injuries are very serious and can require life-long rehabilitation and care. Attorney Joleen Youngers will seek compensation to help cover treatment expenses. You may also be entitled to compensation for lost wages, loss of earning capacity, pain and suffering, and emotional harm.
In any personal injury case, the victim has the right to seek compensation for their economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages are usually more straightforward, as these include direct financial losses resulting from a defendant’s negligence or misconduct. Your attorney can help you claim repayment of medical expenses and property damage, and if you are unable to work after the accident, she can help you calculate your lost earnings as well.
Non-economic damages are more subjective, as these include physical pain, emotional distress, and psychological trauma. You may not only contend with the physical pain of your injuries during recovery but also the psychological stress caused by the trauma of the accident or coping with a permanent disability if you suffered severe harm. Your Santa Fe bicycle accident lawyer will know how to calculate appropriate pain and suffering compensation in your case.
Recovering Through Auto Insurance
Every driver is required to have auto insurance, and this insurance will pay for damages that a covered driver causes in an accident. Auto insurance applies to bicycle accidents as well, but the at-fault driver’s insurance may not fully cover the victim’s damages. It is also common for injured claimants to encounter all types of problems in their interactions with insurance company representatives.
Your Santa Fe bicycle accident lawyer can guide you through the auto insurance claim filing process, helping you to secure a fair and reasonable settlement offer from the at-fault driver’s insurance carrier. If you encounter any disputes with your claim or if you believe the insurance company has treated you unfairly in any way, your attorney will know how to address any such problems that arise and help you secure a fair settlement offer as quickly as possible.
Hit-and-Run and Drunk Driving Accidents
Unfortunately, careless and negligent drunk drivers can cause serious injuries by acts of careless or reckless driving, including changing lanes without regard to bicyclists and motorists and driving while impaired by drugs or alcohol. Another form of reckless driving involves a hit-and-run injury involving someone who causes a crash and then takes off, leaving the scene. Attorney Youngers will hold those drunk drivers and negligent drivers responsible for their actions.
In some cases, negligent parties may be uninsured or underinsured. You may be covered under your own insurance for uninsured/underinsured motorists if someone else is at fault and either does not have insurance or doesn’t have enough insurance. If the at-fault driver broke the law in causing your accident, this might also complicate your recovery efforts, but it may also mean that you could be awarded punitive damages alongside compensation for your claimed losses.
Building Your Personal Injury Case for a Bicycle Accident
Whether you were injured by another party’s negligence or illegal misconduct on the road, you have the right to seek full repayment of the losses they inflicted. When insurance cannot fully compensate you, a personal injury suit is the optimal legal mechanism for ensuring accountability and recovering compensation for your damages.
Success with a personal injury claim in the state requires proving that a defendant directly caused your claimed damages, proving the true extent of those damages, and proving that they did not result from any other cause. The standard of proof in a personal injury case is a preponderance of the evidence, meaning the evidence must show that the defendant is more likely than not directly responsible for the plaintiff’s claimed damages.
Youngers Law, PA, can help you build a comprehensive personal injury suit that aims for maximum compensation. Trust your Santa Fe bicycle accident lawyer to help you uncover all forms of compensation you are legally able to claim from the defendant and to assist you in gathering the evidence you need to firmly establish causation between the defendant’s actions and your claimed losses.
Bicycle and Motorcycle Accident Wrongful Death Cases
Nothing can ever replace a loved one. However, a wrongful death claim can be filed to seek financial compensation and to hold the wrongdoer accountable. A wrongful death claim is a type of personal injury claim, but there are special rules that apply to these cases with respect to who is eligible to file these claims and the damages that may be recovered. If your loved one was killed in a bicycle accident, Ms. Youngers can help.
How Long Before I Will Get Compensation After My Bicycle Accident?
The length of these cases can vary a lot. Some settlements can be achieved without filing a lawsuit. Others require litigation. The case can still settle at any time between filing the lawsuit and trial. Having an experienced attorney on your side throughout this process will help a great deal. We can do the negotiating for you and make sure things proceed as quickly and efficiently as possible.
FAQs
You can prove fault for a bicycle accident in Santa Fe by gathering various forms of physical and digital evidence. The police report from the accident, traffic camera footage, photos of the scene of the crash, and cell phone data are often crucial pieces of evidence in these cases. If anyone saw the accident happen, their witness testimony could also prove to be essential for establishing liability for the accident.
The amount of compensation you can claim for a bicycle accident in Santa Fe will depend on the scope and severity of the damages you suffered. If you are able to prove another party is directly responsible for causing the accident, it is possible to hold them accountable for your medical expenses, lost income, property damage, and pain and suffering. Your Santa Fe bicycle accident lawyer can help you assess the full potential value of your claim.
Yes, you can claim compensation if you were partially at fault under the state’s pure comparative fault statute. Whatever percentage of fault is assigned to you is the percentage of your total compensation that you will lose as a penalty. It’s possible for multiple parties to share fault for a bicycle accident, and your attorney will know the most effective ways to minimize any fault percentage assigned to you.
You need to hire a Santa Fe bicycle accident lawyer to ensure the optimal outcome of your case. Not only will hiring an attorney make proving fault for your accident easier, but she will also know the most effective ways you can maximize your total recovery. Your attorney will also be able to streamline your proceedings, potentially helping you resolve your case more quickly than you initially expected.
The cost to hire a Santa Fe bicycle accident lawyer will amount to a percentage of your final case award when you choose Youngers Law, PA, to represent you. We accept most personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning we will only charge our client a fee if we win their case, and their fee will be a percentage of the total compensation we recover for them. If there is no recovery, there is no fee.
Speak with a New Mexico Bike Injury Lawyer
For more information about how attorney Youngers can help, consult with her. Ms. Youngers provides free consultations to people injured due to bicycle accidents. All too often, even skilled cyclists are injured due to no fault of their own when they are hit or cut off by drivers. Contact the firm online or call 505-820-0108.